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Changes in delivery working for Ubaldo

Changes in delivery working for Ubaldo

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CLEVELAND -- The Indians understand that there is an adjustment period when a pitcher is asked to alter his mechanics. Ubaldo Jimenez will need time to work through his current transition, but Cleveland has been encouraged by the early results.

In Sunday's 4-2 win over Texas, Jimenez held a potent Rangers lineup to no runs on two hits over seven innings. The outing still included a level of inconsistency, but there were also signs of progress for the right-hander.

"It's going to take time," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "But obviously the consistency on his velocity and the improvement of the command as the game went on is part of it."

Jimenez issued five walks -- upping his American League-leading total to 25 on the season -- but he also set season highs in strikeouts (six), swinging strikes (12) and called strikes (24). For the most part, Jimenez kept his fastball around 90-94 throughout his entire outing instead of seeing his velocity diminish in the later innings.

Over the past two weeks, Jimenez has worked on tweaking some mechanical flaws discovered when pitching coach Scott Radinsky compared 2010 footage to video taken from the past two seasons. One adjustment includes being more consistent with the angle of his lead shoulder in his delivery.

"It takes them to see it instead of you just grabbing them and telling them," Acta said. "It was very significant and it got his attention right away and he went to work on it with Rad. It's going to take repetition. That's why Rad asked for a couple outings. It's been two and he's shown some improvement.

"Hopefully he continues to do it and knows what to look for if it gets into that rut."